The Economics of a 2D Adventure in Today's Market

[Denzil Quixode]

I have no idea if Ron Gilbert's "Grumpy Gamer" blog is already being checked by everyone here on a regular basis, but anyway, he's just put up a very interesting entry about what trying to do a commercial 2D adventure today would entail: http://www.grumpygamer.com/4904226

[Xentor]

Very interesting read... A subtle reminder of why I'm sticking to a boring corporate job and shunting my game development over to the "hobby" category.

[SSH]

Mmmm, I once wondered "If I won the lottery I could start an adventure game company and hire the best AGSers... how much would it cost". My guess was around the million mark, too."

Another development model might be, however, to have all but maybe 3 folks (manager, lead artist and lead designer) work on a freelance basis, paid by the pixel, kinda thing. That would allow more possibilities... hmmm....

When I win the lottery, I'll let you know. It might take a while, since I don't buy a ticket...

[TerranRich]

If you win the lottery, make me head janitor. I'd appreciate it lots. Plus, I could sneak into the supply closet and get high off of cleaning fumes while stealing other Professional AGSers' ideas and marketing them as my own. Evil!

[chapter11studios]

In my mind, this is all the more reason to be grateful for the underground gaming community. AGS really is keeping the genre alive.

[Anarcho]

Yeah, it is, and quite honestly, adventure games are usually the last thing that I would buy.  And I absolutely love adventure games. It's just such a hit or miss genre.  Free games of excellent quality, as often found here, make me not care that there isn't commercial interest.  It kinda makes me happy that there isn't commerical interest.

[Gonzo]

It's an interesting eye-opener, and goes some way to explaining why 2D adventure in its commercial aspect isn't exactly thriving. It doesn't really apply to AGS, as most of these games are made as freeware, by individuals or small groups of people in their spare time. Every so often a game comes along made in AGS that feels surprisingly polished, all things considered. When you approach it on a professional level though, it's another kettle of fish.

So I'm pretty happy for these games to persist almost solely 'underground'. I still think exciting things are happening in games today, and whilst developers should be learning from the game design and storytelling of the classic 2D adventures, I'm not desperate for them to get back to making them, and potentially bankrupting themselves in the process.

I still love 2D artwork and gameplay, and AGS has always been more than a nostalgia trip for me. There's some brilliantly put-together games. It's just that, on balance, I can accept that there won't really be many more professionally-produced 2D adventures in the shops. Articles like this show how unlikely they are to resurface. As has been said, all the more reason to be grateful for the AGS community.